[The 90’s raw: Tom McKean]

Raw tape for the award-winning TV series The 90's. Tom McKean, radio and television broadcaster and former drug addict, talks about his experiences getting off drugs and his mission to educate others. The second part of the tape follows McKean broadcasting in the radio studio.

00:00Copy video clip URL Radio broadcaster Tom McKean and videomaker Joel Cohen chat while they set up the camera.

01:24Copy video clip URL Interviewer Kathie Robertson begins to interview McKean, and McKean tells us that his show tonight is about lies: white lies and blue lies, and their role in relationships.

02:39Copy video clip URL “I’m a 44 year old body with a kid inside me coming out, that’s who Tom McKean is.” He talks about how he had problems with drugs and alcohol, so he is only taking responsibility now, and has a different message and a different attitude. He says his message is “unconditional love,” and emphasizes its role in his recovery and self-esteem.

04:11Copy video clip URL Robertson asks about McKean’s time in prison, and McKean responds by saying he had to deal with a lot of fear. After meeting a youth minister, who wanted to separate what he did from who he was, McKean changed his attitude, even though he was still in prison. He learned about honesty in prison. “I was accepted by inmates before I ever was by society.”

06:38Copy video clip URL The two talk about the camaraderie between inmates. McKean continues to describe his experience in prison: “The rehabilitation started from within…. I spent time with me, and I found out I was okay.” He thinks prison is an ideal place to rehabilitate, and finds it harder to deal with problems outside of prison, because you have to pay bills and deal with pressure from society.

09:27Copy video clip URL Robertson asks about “warehousing,” and McKean worries about inmates becoming institutionalized: “Prison is a pit of hell in a way, because you either go up, or you die.” He says it is therefore important to help inmates deal with their problems.

11:58Copy video clip URL He says that many of the inmates he talked to were experiencing denial of their crimes, which were motivated by drug or alcohol use. “It’s sad because again, the alcohol created the crime.” Robertson asks about drug and alcohol abuse, and McKean again talks about lack of love and respect. He met three inmates recently who were in prison for life, and whom he found mild-mannered yet frustrated. The people who would not turn back to crime are those that are in for life, according to McKean.

16:48Copy video clip URL Robertson asks what made McKean such a special case, and he attributes it to his ego, which he believes also led him to drug use. He talks about how most people don’t get fulfillment out of life, and he wants to help them. But he acknowledges the fact that he is a rare case; he has not stopped his abusive behavior, now he just abuses the good.

19:43Copy video clip URL McKean continues to talk about love: “I believe that… everybody is searching for love, especially in this fast-paced society.” He tells a story about his time in prison to demonstrate the power of love.

22:13Copy video clip URL Robertson asks about the “War on Drugs” and McKean says “it’s a joke.” “We have to realize that it’s not a war on drugs, it’s a war on people.” He would prefer to call it a “War on Addictions.” “All of us commit some form of a crime,” and he encourages giving people second chances.

24:56Copy video clip URL The interview ends and the videomaker tapes McKean at work at WLUP (AM-1000) on “Drug Free America Talk Radio.” He talks about the upcoming show on lies, on which they will have people calling in and telling the station the biggest lies they’ve told. He and a colleague prepare for their show.

31:40Copy video clip URL Their broadcast starts, and McKean introduces “Drug Free America Talk Radio” and the show on lies. He offers money to those who call in, and reads an article about lying in the newspaper. The article says that 91% of people lie regularly. He then invites people to call in. The camera cuts to the man taking phone calls, and we hear more than an hour of the radio show.

01:29:39Copy video clip URL End of tape.